Tucked away on Parker Street, a quiet road between Holborn and Covent Garden, the Garden Cinema could easily lay claim to being London’s best kept secret when it comes to independent movie theatres. Compared to the BFI Southbank or the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square, institutions that similarly screen a more diverse array of films than mainstream cinema companies, the Garden Cinema is a baby. This unique one-off has just celebrated its third birthday, but audience numbers are increasing all the time.

“We grew very gradually,” explained the Garden Cinema’s film curator, Dr. George Crosthwait. “We didn’t want to do a massive press and marketing campaign when we started. We let word-of-mouth do its job. We trusted that it was something special, and that there would be an exponential growth, just from people coming in and going ‘This place is something a bit different.’ It does seem to have worked. January 2023, suddenly everything seemed to explode. And ever since then, the numbers have just been going up and up.”

“A bit different” is exactly right. The cinema’s entryway leads to a small box office before patrons head downstairs to a plush bar, furnished with Art Deco-style décor and pictures of well-known faces from the Golden Age of cinema on the walls. Nearby alcoves have been turned into inviting snugs for cinema-goers to relax in before heading into either Screen 1’s comfy 70-seater or Screen 2’s snug 40-seater. The carefully considered design is the result of years of work from the Garden Cinema’s owner, Michael Chambers. 

A former lawyer, Chambers is part of a filmmaking family. His father, Jack Chambers, made documentaries in the 1930s and 1940s, while his son also works in the non-fiction field. His former father-in-law, Charlie Cooper, was also embedded in cinema exhibition, owning what was the Rex cinema, now the Phoenix, in East Finchley, north London. While Chambers has enjoyed a successful career in law and legal publishing, his interest in the arts remained steadfast. When it was based near the Barbican, his legal firm, Chambers and Partners, even contained an art gallery on the ground floor.  

When the firm moved to Parker Street, there was nowhere for an art gallery to go; the basement space was simply too dark and gloomy. So instead, Chambers dreamt of using the subterranean space for a movie house. When he sold the firm in 2018 – a ‘Chambers and Partners’ legend still exists above the door next to the Garden Cinema – he was able to keep hold of the building. It became the first step towards realising his vision of owning a truly independent cinema in London. 

Purchasing books on Art Deco design, Chambers began to create a welcoming, warm space for film fans to flock to. “He was painstakingly creating this thing for years, paying attention to detail, to every single little thing that you see,” explained Erifili Missiou, who alongside Crosthwait, is responsible for the curation and programming of the cinema. “He was really researching cinemas abroad. It was kind of an obsessive endeavour.”

Originally, the Garden Cinema was due to open on March 27, 2020, just as the U.K. went into the first of its lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We had films booked for the opening, and then it was shut down and mothballed effectively,” said Crosthwait. Fortunately, Chambers had the funds to keep the project ticking over. Eighteen months later, Crosthwait and the others in the small team returned to their posts, to prepare for a second opening: March 5, 2022. 

Opening to a season of Sidney Poitier films, among other choices, Chambers’ dream was finally up and running. “At the start he was very hands-on, because he wanted to make sure that we are faithful to his ethos,” said Missiou. “Now that he has trusted us after the first years… he has left us a little bit to our own devices. But from time to time, he just checks in. We’re always respectful to his original vision.” 

If anything, that vision was to foster a community of passionate filmgoers. “He wanted people coming here to be really engaged and knowledgeable,” added Missiou. “So he doesn’t allow, for example, people randomly to come and have a drink. He built the booths so people have conversations about the films and he wants the membership to be really active, to make requests about curation, to be engaged in conversation. He doesn’t just want people coming just because of the vibe.”

To encourage audiences, a lifetime membership was initially offered at a bargain price of GBP £20. Now it costs GBP £25 a year. But, among other benefits, those who sign up are able to request films and even introduce them. There are also fortnightly free screenings for members and the cinema frequently puts on tie-in events with its curated seasons, often involving local retailers. Last year’s ‘Taiwanese Cinema: Now and Then’ season teamed up with Covent Garden’s Mooboo Bubble Tea, with their beverage served ahead of a screening of Sean Wang’s coming-of-age film “Dìdi.” 

With membership now standing at close to 12,000, the Garden Cinema’s recent third birthday party was a true celebration. A day of screenings, proposed by members, from John Frankenheimer’s “Seconds” to Giuseppe Tornatore’s “Cinema Paradiso” featured. And prizes for a complimentary raffle were donated by nearby businesses, everything from artisan chocolates to Japanese sake and a GBP £100 voucher for popular tapas restaurant, Barrafina. “Which shows that our brand – a word we just don’t particularly like – has some cachet, at least in the West End,” said Crosthwait. 

When it comes to the Garden Cinema’s positioning, you might argue it’s halfway between the BFI Southbank and the Prince Charles, “literally in geographical location, and in programming,” said Crosthwait. More flexible than what he calls the “rigid machine” that is the BFI, which is compelled to announce its seasons months in advance, the film choices are also more carefully constructed than the “random” selections you’ll find at the Prince Charles. “There’s a thought process behind why [seasons] were put together,” commented Missiou. 

Although Crosthwait and Missiou oversee multiple seasons per year, they also work with guest curators a great deal. One of the upcoming strands is the Hong Kong New Wave, a fascinating look at films from the late 1970s and early 1980s to come out of the former British territory. It’s the brainchild of Millie Zhou, who began an association with the Garden Cinema when she programmed the Chinese Cinema Project, showcasing works from emerging Chinese filmmakers, a one-off strand which proved hugely popular. 

Later, Zhou co-curated other seasons including a Zhang Yimou retrospective. “Hong Kong New Wave is effectively her sole curation, but we’ve built up a very trusting relationship with her over a few years,” said Crosthwait. “Generally, when we’ve got a guest curation or co-curation, Erifili and myself are there to just [put a] hand on the shoulder to guide them through the process of it. And our role can be quite administrative in those instances with someone else doing more of the curation itself.”

The cinema is also keen to leave space in its schedule for last-minute screenings. When actor Gene Hackman died recently, the cinema paid tribute with showings of “Night Moves” and “The French Connection.” Likewise, David Lynch’s passing was marked. But perhaps even more intriguing, Chambers insisted on showing the BBC documentary “Gaza: How To Survive A War Zone,” that was recently pulled from the airwaves. “We’ve always kept a flexibility in the programme to be a bit reactive to what’s going on,” said Crosthwait, “which has allowed Michael to show that documentary, which was very important for him.”

Increasingly, word is spreading, with the Garden Cinema keen to foster good relations with filmmakers. When Mike Leigh’s latest “Hard Truths” was released in January 2025, the cinema programmed a retrospective of Leigh’s work, with Q&As featuring Leigh and his regular composer Gary Yershon. “He trusted us,” said Missiou “He’s done a lot of Q&As and conversation panels, but he was like, ‘I would like to show all of my filmography and I’d like to show it at the Garden Cinema, because it feels curated.’”

UK distributors like Conic and Lionsgate have also hired the space to screen films to press. “It’s something we’d like to encourage,” said Crosthwait. “Especially those times of the year where Soho House gets block-booked out by Netflix. It’s nice to feel part of the ecology of film distribution and exhibition.” The cinema is even available for private hire, and has proved popular for hosting conferences and acting as a location for filming due to its unique look. 

While these hires have sometimes led the cinema to temporarily close to the public, that should now be a thing of the past. Work on a third screen and adjacent atrium bar has just been completed, with both being soft-launched over the coming weeks. “There’s more seats to fill now,” said Crosthwait. “Just having more space means we can play around with the kinds of screening events we can do. We’ve done quite a lot of live scores, but it’d be great to do more things like that.”

Amid what is a tough time for rep cinemas, the Garden Cinema is undeniably a success story. Moreover, it’s just the beginning for this space of cinematic worship (“It feels like a church. Everybody who comes here says that,” said Missiou). “Most importantly, [we want to] streamline our processes, because we’re still punk, we’re still a bit DIY, we’re the wild team,” Missiou continued. “We are the opposite of BFI, of the rigid bureaucratic thing.” 

London’s best kept cinematic secret may not be secret for much longer.